Together Forever
by Hannah L-Sama
Summary: "You killed Ib." He said at last, his voice cracking. "I did it for you." She replied. He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I'll never forgive you." What would have happened if Mary had gotten attached to Garry and not Ib? What would have happened if Ib had died in the toy box instead of him?


**What would have happened if Mary got attached to Garry and not Ib? What would have happened if Ib died in the toy box in Garry's place? That is the inspiration I used to write this one-shot. Enjoy, please R&R.**

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><p>"Ib… IB!" Garry yelled, shaking the girl. "Wake up!"<p>

But she didn't. Her red eyes remained closed, never to reopen.

Garry furiously wiped at his eyes as tears escaped. He had to be strong. For Ib. She wouldn't want to see him cry, would she? Of course not!

"Hold on, Ib." He said, leaning her carefully against the wall. "You stay here and rest. I'll find us an exit. I'll get you out….I p-promise."

He carefully laid his coat over her, so she wouldn't get cold, and made his way down the hallway, trying not to race back to her.

Ascending the crudely drawn staircase, he came upon a sight that threatened to break down any composure he had gathered so far.

Red rose petals.

He averted his eyes, not wanting to see them. Ib was fine, she was just sleeping. Resting. Waiting for him to find an exit.

He arrived into the main room, seeing a large patch of yellow roses against the far wall. Of course, he was curious, but his curiosity would have to wait. Ib and finding an exit were all that mattered right now.

"Oh, there's her rose." He said to himself, bending down to pick up the stem. He gathered a handful of petals in his hand, convincing himself that the rose was fine; the petals would grow back. Ib would be fine, see? There's a vase right over there.

He quickly placed the stem in the vase, glancing away before he saw that no petals were growing back.

"I'll just leave this here." He thought out loud to himself. "Ib's rose might need some extra time to recover."

Garry brought his shaking hand to the door handle, twisting it and pushing the door open. He stepped back out into the artificial sunlight, feeling the ringing echo back into his ears. They'd picked up a pink key in the toy box, so maybe that unlocked the pink house in the center? Yes, that had to be it.

He passed a few trees, again seeing the disturbing image of his body hanging upside-down. He'd almost screamed when he saw it, but then noticed that Ib didn't appear to see it, so he kept quiet. No need to scare her, right?

As he approached the pink house, his breathing began to get faster, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

At first, his shaking hand couldn't fit the key in the hole. It kept jumping around, completely missing it. He jerked his hand away.

"Get a hold of yourself, Garry." He ran a hand through his lavender hair, attempting to calm his frazzled nerves.

With a deep breath, he fit the key into the lock, twisted it, and heard a small _click_. He opened it apprehensively, stepping inside with trepidation, but the only thing present in the 'house' was a single room, with a staircase going downwards. He made his way towards it, pausing when he noticed how _dark _it was.

_Should I go down? _He thought.

He remembered earlier, when he'd asked himself a similar question.

_'__I've come this far, but now I'm wondering if I should keep going…what to do…?'_

_I was just in time to save Ib._

"Do it for Ib." He told himself, steeling his nerves, and descended the staircase.

He wasn't sure what he expected when he reached the bottom, but a dark version of the gallery was most definitely not close to anything he'd imagined. Looking around, he saw that all of the painting and exhibits were the same. There were even pamphlets on the welcome desk, ready for guests to arrive and pick them up.

Uncomfortable, he quickened his pace away from _Your Dark Figure, _feeling as if the large yellow eye was watching him.

That was when he stumbled across _it. _

_Fabricated World, _the title read.

His mouth gaped, and he stared in awe and longing at the large mural before him.

"That's it! That's the gallery!"

He turned to tell Ib, when he remembered she wasn't with him.

"R-right. Still resting. Well, now that I found the exit, I can – "

With a flash of light, the frame disappeared from the painting.

"What? Wait, I can get through! Will this take me back?"

He glanced back towards the hallway, the way towards Ib.

A few tears escaped his eyes.

_It's time to stop pretending – _

"Garry, where are you going?"

Eye wide, he whirled, to see Ib standing before him, looking up at him with a saddened expression.

"You said you would come back for me. Why are you leaving?"

"Ib, now is the time to get out." He said, taking a step back. Something was wrong… he didn't know how, but something in his gut told him that something was off…

Her face turned angry. "Were you going to leave without me? You lied. You weren't going to come back for me!"

"Ib, that's not – "

"You promised to come back for me!" She yelled, tears running down her face.

Garry looked down, a few tears escaping from his eyes.

"No." He said finally. "I promised to come back for Ib. You're not Ib. Ib….isn't here anymore."

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LEAVE!" She screamed, diving towards him, her arm extended.

Before his eyes, Ib changed. Her skin darkened, growing smooth and black, and she grew taller, her body extending until she reached Garry's height.

And then the head fell off, morphing into one of the alabaster mannequin heads, red tears streaming down it's face, before it crashed into the ground, exploding into pieces that flew across the room.

Garry looked back up in horror to see a headless mannequin running towards him, clawing at him.

He jumped back, but suddenly faltered over one of the mannequin head shards, tripped, and landing on his back.

The headless mannequin was above him, hand raised. Garry closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come.

Instead, he started at a loud "STOP!"

His eyes shot open in shock, as he watched Marry come bowling down the hall, rage in her eyes She leapt at the headless mannequin, wrapping her arms around it's legs.

Garry rolled out of the way just in time, as Marry and the mannequin crashed to the ground, landing where he'd just been. Immediately, Marry pulled out a pallet knife and began to stab the back of the monster. It roared, the arms flailing, while she continued to bash it relentlessly, without end.

"I said no, I said NO, I SAID NO!" She repeated as Garry watched, wide-eyed.

Finally, the monster stopped moving, it's limbs slowly going limp and landing on the floor with a _thump._Marry got up off of it.

She looked at Garry expectantly, who remained silent.

The silence was eerie as the two stood there, not a single sound penetrating the silence of the gallery.

"You killed Ib." He said at last, his voice cracking.

_This doesn't make it any better._

"I did it for you."

He shook his head, standing. "I don't care. You killed an innocent girl."

She looked down.

He faced the painting, away from her.

"You better hurry. It'll close soon." Her voice spoke out quietly.

He sighed, looking down. Slowly, he roved his eyes over to Marry.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I'll never forgive you."

With that, he took a deep breath, and climbed into the painting.

Marry glanced down at the nameplate.

_Once you go in, there's no going back. _

_All your time here will be lost._

_Will you still jump in? _

Sensing that the painting was about to close. Marry sighed, and faced the hallway.

"Goodbye, Ib."

She climbed in, with a smile on her face.

_I'm finally free. _

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><p>Garry blinked. He'd lost himself staring at the painting.<p>

"Garry?"

"Hm?" He glanced down to see Marry. "What is it, sis?"

She gave a large smile. "Are you okay? You spaced out."

He nodded. All of a sudden, he didn't feel good. Something wrenched painfully in his chest. He didn't know what it was – maybe he was coming down with something?

"Are you ready to go, Marry?" He received a nod in reply.

He turned and walked down the hall, hearing Marry fall into step beside him.

As they approached the staircase, he saw a painting that caught his eye.

"Oh," he said, pausing and backing up. "I don't think I saw that one before."

He walked up to it, hearing Marry whirl and trot to catch up with him.

The painting was of a small girl, looking to be around 8-10 years old, caught and tangled in the thorny branches of a patch of red roses. She looked to be asleep, he eyes closed.

"Interesting. What do you think of this one, Marry?" He glanced down at his blonde sister.

She studied the painting for a moment.

"I don't really like it. It's depressing." She stated.

Garry chuckled softly. How blunt and honest, very like Marry.

"Well, come on then," he said, heading towards the stairwell. "Want to go out for some macaroons?"

"Yes!" She cheered, a large smile on her face, causing Garry to smile as well.

"Alright then."

Marry glanced into one of the side rooms as they were leaving, seeing the large yellow rose sculpture on display. She smiled grimly, remembering the title of the painting of the small girl.

_Forgotten Portrait. _


End file.
